Hammer & Tong 412 | The Verdict

By Jessica Hackett - 31 Oct 2013

In a town where the restaurant and café scene rivals that of any other city on earth, it would seem near impossible to stand out from the crowd. So how does anyone do it?! Well offering pop rocking pancakes for breakfast certainly helps…

Tucked just off the main strip of Brunswick Street lies the all day eatery, coffee bar and provider of mouth-watering and throat lubricating beverages Hammer & Tong 412.

Hammer & Tong is the latest venture by ex Vue de Monde duo, chef Simon Ward and front of house manager Dennis Ferreira. Applying just the right mix of relaxed dining with incredibly fresh and high-quality food, Hammer & Tong is somewhere you will want to head morning, noon and night.

Having just launched the new spring menu, chef Simon Ward continues to make your taste-buds tingle as though they're dancing to a new dub-step remix of your favourite rock classic… the perfect mix of the familiar with an inventive and inspired modern twist!

For your every breakfast need, Hammer & Tong serves up a tantalisingly original and unique menu with offerings ranging from a yabbie tail omelette, to French toast with peanut butter, raspberry yoghurt ice cream and banana caramel (are you kidding?! YUM!).

To further put a skip in your morning, the quality of coffee is next to none with an impressive Spirit Triplette coffee machine serving up beans from the folks at Dukes Coffee Roasters. A combo to satisfy the palate of even the most sophisticated of caffeine consumers.

For those not enticed out of bed for meals of the breakfast/brunch variety (if these people do in fact exist…), Hammer & Tong still has you covered, with the new spring menu offering up creative and scarily moreish dishes. Featuring the likes of perfectly cooked duck eggs, a to-die-for soft shell crab burger, and lamb ribs to rival the ribs of any lamb, this menu is seriously a winner.

And if the lovely and always helpful staff haven't kicked you out yet due to fearing your status as a stalker, and you have managed to avoid arrest due to refusing to vacate the premises… stay for one of the best dinners on Brunswick Street!

Hammer & Tong's dinner menu is as tasty as any fine-dining establishment Melbourne has to offer, but its extremely reasonable prices will allow the Kimyes of the world and impoverished uni students alike access to beautiful fresh and seasonal produce. Get your mouth around exquisitely prepared and cooked seafood, crunchy quail, and melt-in-your-mouth wagyu beef. Oh, and don't forget the homemade praline ice-cream with chocolate to finish…

The wine list has been stunningly matched, and the staff are well equipped to ensure you maximise your eating and drinking experience by coupling certain dishes with certain drops. I was smart enough to take the advice of the lovely staff during a recent dinner at Hammer & Tong, resulting in the 'sticky' Bordeaux dessert wine on offer becoming quite possibly the nicest liquid I have ever had the pleasure of drinking.

If you're keen on heading in to check it out, this month Hammer & Tong is running a series of pop-up dinners to expose the hidden talent of some of Melbourne's best Gen-Y chefs. Simon will hand over his kitchen over the next two Tuesdays to fellow ex Vue de Monde chef Clinton McIver, now wowing the crowds at Champions Grill, as well as Andreas Papadakis from Comida Bebe to present a special four-course tasting menu. Email the team for bookings if we've sufficiently whet your appetite!

All in all, Hammer & Tong is a winner – for breakfast, lunch, coffee, wine and dinner!

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By Jessica Hackett

Cheese lover, Silicon Valley wannabe, and Google Analytics geek, Jess is a digital marketing expert with a background in online media and digital publishing. An avid believer in the power of content marketing, Jess’s passion for supporting small business is surpassed only by her love of eating out in Melbourne!

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